Brandon Manning To Meet With Player Safety

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to their biggest rivals in the latest outdoor game, and now may be without one of their top-six defensemen after a late hit in Saturday night’s game.

NHL Player Safety announced that Brandon Manning will have a hearing on Monday morning for his hit on Penguins rookie Jake Guentzel. Early in the second period, Manning hit Guentzel high and late after the young Penguin used his skate to deflect a pass up ice to Sidney Crosby (link to video on Sportsnet’s YouTube page). Guentzel did not see Manning coming, as he was watching the play move up the ice. The hit came approximately two seconds after Guentzel was no longer in possession of the puck. It appeared that Manning had stepped up to throw an open-ice hit, but the puck was moved faster than he anticipated, making his hit interference. Guentzel was not injured on the play.

There was no penalty called on the play, however NHL Player Safety referred to the play as interference in their tweet. Manning has no prior history of supplemental discipline, so while this will probably lead to a suspension, it likely won’t be very long.

The Penguins defeated the Flyers 4-2 at Heinz Field. Guentzel finished the game with a pair of assists, giving him 14 points in 23 games played this season. Manning was held off the scoresheet, save for a holding penalty late in the second.

Comments

I hate both teams. But that hit was dirty, should have been called. If I played for the Flyers I would also probably be frustrated and taking out my anger on defenseless ppl. Oh wait, I’m a normal person so no I wouldn’t.